


Accountability

by Saentorine



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Discipline, Enemies, Extended Scene, Force Training, Force Use, Gen, Humiliation, Lightsabers, Manipulation, Manipulative Relationship, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Punishment, Schadenfreude, Snoke Being a Dick, The Force, Verbal Humiliation, corporal punishment via the Force, enemies that need each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 20:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15032969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saentorine/pseuds/Saentorine
Summary: When Kylo Ren and General Hux disappoint him, Supreme Leader Snoke uses them against each other to remind them both of his expectations.Written as an extended scene of the first time Kylo Ren and Hux meet with Snoke in TFA, with Snoke taking more time to address their preceding failures.





	Accountability

Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren had been summoned to speak with the Supreme Leader as soon as they reached Starkiller Base.

The topic of their meeting had not been stated, but Hux was nervous given the fragmented state of their current objective, the map to Skywalker still beyond their grasp in the company of a rogue stormtrooper that damned the reputation of decades of Hux and his father’s work. At least he could confirm that the Starkiller weapon was complete and operational.

For all he could tell, Kylo Ren didn’t know what to expect, either. Granted, there was no telling what was going on in the mind behind that mask of his-- which was probably for the best; the smugness revealed when he spoke was irritating enough. The two took their places side by side before where the hologram of the Supreme Leader soon materialized, casting them both in a bluish glow.

Hux’s heart rose when Snoke addressed Ren first. “Kylo Ren,” he drawled, looming over them so that both were forced to crane their necks. “General Hux has informed me of an internal . . . blunder committed by the _Finalizer_ ’s own personnel, an apparent fit of violence resulting in substantial damage to the equipment in the external observation portal.”

Hux suppressed a grin. Although the _Finalizer_ was adequately equipped to address the repairs in-house and indeed they were already underway, Hux had sent a brief of the damage directly to Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship under the same protocol as an enemy attack. 

“The pattern of burns and resulting electrical damage are consistent with a lightsaber,” Hux added, careful to sound nothing more than professional.

There was only one lightsaber aboard the _Finalizer_.

Unconsciously Ren’s right hand went for it, not to draw it, but as if to protect it-- though such a gesture was futile. It had not previously dawned on him that he should be concerned about repercussions for his outburst against the lieutenant and his exasperating news. In his grandfather’s example he might have outright dispatched with him or at least left him frightened enough on death’s door; brutalizing the equipment had seemed the merciful route. In truth, he had forgotten about it as soon as it was over and the anger passed.

“Bring it to me,” Snoke ordered. Ren did not pause; Snoke was powerful enough even at his great distance he could likely expel it from his hands himself should he hesitate. He approached close enough the Supreme Leader could have touched him if he were corporeal, then took a knee and laid the lightsaber beneath his glowing feet which hovered some distance above the floor.

Hux delighted in the humiliating implications of this surrender-- the beloved toy confiscated from the child who could not be trusted to wield it responsibility-- but he also recognized the sheer practicality. If he were tasked with chastising a delinquent apprentice in the Force he wouldn’t be foolish enough to leave him armed, either-- regardless of whether he was in the form of a hologram.

“And the mask,” Snoke added.

Ren’s hesitation was more pronounced this time. For a Force-user as strong as Snoke, it wasn’t objectively any more difficult to probe his mind through his helmet, but going without it hampered Ren’s own mental defenses, rendering him particularly vulnerable. His master-- and anyone else-- could see any discomfort or difficult emotion written clear upon his face. He kept his shoulders squared, keenly conscious of Hux’s leering gaze upon his back, and focused his attention on the necessity of believable contrition. With everything else he was being held responsible for currently faring so poorly, it was not a wise time to anger the Supreme Leader further.

“I sense your remorse, my apprentice,” said Snoke, misleadingly sympathetic. “But we have spoken of your recklessness before. You possess great strength with the Force . . . but your power is nothing of use to us if it cannot be channeled with purposeful intention.”

“I have not yet mastered it,” Ren admitted-- _obviously_ , Hux thought to himself. “The Force is strong; at times it overwhelms and consumes me. Under your patient guidance I will improve.”

Without the modulator on his mask his formal speech now struck Hux as particularly pretentious, the affectation of a boy wanting to seem far more imposing than he was. He could also tell that his urgently humble tone was as much strategy as remorse; in the role of student, he could shield himself with the excuse of poor skill. In any other circumstances Kylo Ren was damnably self-assured and would never admit to fault or flaw.

“The ship is not only under my command,” Snoke reminded Ren. “Our cause would be quite hindered without the use of the extensive military and equipment overseen and maintained by General Hux.”

Ren stared at him in silence, knowing there was no use giving voice to the pleas his master could already read within him. The Supreme Leader lifted an imperious finger to point back at Hux, silently indicating his command.

Kylo Ren rose and turned towards the general, taking great care to keep his gaze vacant and avoid eye contact with him. Dark as it was nevertheless Hux noticed he was blushing, pink appearing high on his cheekbones and ears mostly obscured by his hair.

“As you would to me,” Snoke amended.

Ren approached and then dropped sullenly to one knee with a thunderous weight Hux could feel radiating through the floor. “I apologize for damaging the ship,” he ground out.

Hux’s eyebrows rose in thrill to see Snoke’s pet debased before him, barely able to stop the corners of his lips from curling into a smile. It was about time the Supreme Leader put his wayward protégé in his place; with his gifts in harnessing the Force Ren had proved useful in reconnaissance and combat, but his place in the hierarchy of the ship was painfully unclear, leading to confusion amongst the troops when his commands contradicted their general’s-- as was uncomfortably common-- and Hux himself unsure of his own authority to confront him. It might have been tolerable if Ren at least conducted himself with the dignity of an officer, but it was excruciating to witness the rogue nonmilitary figure in ancient-styled robes bang up expensive equipment in fits of pique and get away with it.

“General Hux,” Snoke asked him, leering over Ren’s head. “What is the protocol for reckless destruction of First Order property, under your command?”

“A trooper that does not demonstrate adequate containment of personal temper and adherence to his superiors’ orders is not typically armed until he does,” replied Hux, relishing the opportunity with the Supreme Leader’s endorsement to suggest Ren did not deserve his weapon. “But in the training stages, a swift shock or simple beating is generally sufficient for mere offenses of impulse control.”

Hux inclined his head almost imperceptibly, eager to see how their exchange had affected the disgraced figure before him. It was difficult to see all of Ren’s face, but Hux could read a slight tremor in his hands and his lips curling into a tight frown.

However, it didn’t seem to have anything to do with Hux; it was imminently clear that he was not merely ashamed, but in genuine _pain_. Sure enough, Hux saw that behind Ren Snoke’s hand was lifted barely and lazily, the casualness of the gesture incongruous with what his apprentice’s response told of the power it unleashed.

Ren could scarcely see through the pain in his skull. He clenched his teeth against the agony, wishing he at least had the privacy of his helmet; sweat beaded on his forehead and he shuddered, belying the aloof stoicism he preferred to represent as a budding master of the Force. The Supreme Leader had numerous ways of testing his limits, subjecting him to pain and frustration that pushed him further into the grip of the dark side. Normally when he attacked his head he targeted his thoughts, probing his mind to uncover whatever unacceptable feelings he was attempting to conceal or drag him through the litany of memories necessary to remind him of why he belonged to the dark side. However, this was pure and simple pain, squeezing like a vice that made his temples throb and blood rush furiously through his veins-- just as they did when he was blinded by temper. His master knew what he was doing.

“Master it,” Snoke coached him. “Prove that you possess the discipline worthy of the Master of the Knights of Ren, and my apprentice.”

It was as much training exercise as it was punishment. Ren supposed he should be grateful for the lesson—he had asked for one, after all-- but he would be far more grateful if _he_ wasn’t there to witness it; _that_ was what made it a punishment.

Hux naturally watched with fascination. He was familiar, after all, with the deliberate and measured use of pain against the trainees in his stormtrooper program, though he did not have to contend with near-supernatural abilities. Nevertheless, it was vindicating to see that ultimately what Ren required was nothing particularly exceptional, merely administered in exceptional form.

Despite his concentrated effort not to crack with unrestrained anger, Ren moaned and coughed, pain on the verge of making him physically sick. The agony made him off-balanced in the same way as the news the rogue stormtrooper that had released his prisoner had also escaped with his targeted droid. He felt beyond control; all of the emotions that gave him power-- pain, anger, resentment, guilt, shame-- welled up inside him at once like a great wave that would drown him before he could ride upon it. A meaningless outburst was the last thing the Supreme Leader wanted to see-- and besides, with his lightsaber several feet away he had nothing to lash out _with_. His hands squeezed into his thighs so hard he thought his nails might tear through the leather of his gloves, a vein in his forehead throbbing as if it was near to burst.

“The pain does not use you,” Snoke admonished. “ _Use the pain_.”

Hux jerked in surprise as Ren suddenly lifted a hand and slapped himself across the face—not with the mere lukewarm intention of bringing himself back to attention, but with utter sincerity, leaving crisp red lines where his fingers had been. His chest rose and fell twice with a ragged breath before he struck the other cheek with equal enthusiasm.

The general stifled a laugh at the absurdity of it, the Supreme Leader’s apprentice smacking _himself_ in punishment as one of Hux’s officers might chastise an inferior. However, amusement was replaced with unsettled awe when he realized what the pain was _doing_.

Hux was not, as they called it, Force-sensitive, but there was something palpable in the energy surrounding Kylo Ren as he endured what was clearly an intolerable amount of pain. Hux had seen this energy released when he ignited his lightsaber or stopped a blaster bolt in midair, but now he was absorbing it like a hot cannon ready to fire—like Hux’s own Starkiller Base, a weaponized entity capable of absorbing the power of something massive and unstable. Ren’s pain and anger had always been unnerving in the way a wounded rathtar was terrifying: furious and unpredictable. His was not the smoldering, deliberate anger of Supreme Leader Snoke or the late Darth Vader, but more like the uncontained fury of a berserker. Hux found himself compelled to admit that Snoke’s insights into his unconventional student had their merits, so long as Ren’s training was coming along as it was supposed to.

“ _Control it_ ,” Snoke continued to cajole.

Hux flinched when the suddenly the unmanned lightsaber laid before the Supreme Leader burst to life, triple blade hissing and skittering against the floor. Snoke laughed with satisfaction, a harsh cackle that echoed in the massive chamber.

Ren landed one more bone-jolting blow to his face with a groan before flinging out his right arm, hand splayed and shuddering. The lightsaber rose precariously from the floor. His hand shifted to a beckoning gesture and it flew towards him, blade and crossguards alike ablaze.

Standing barely a foot away from Ren, a mere flick of a wrist and the saber would be at Hux’s throat. For one horrifying moment he was certain of his demise, hacked through like so many destroyed control panels, dashboards, and doors aboard the Finalizer . .  
.  
. . . but the instant the lightsaber was firm within Ren’s grasp, he disengaged it.

Ren closed his eyes with a labored sigh. 

“Good,” Snoke praised him, voice dropping again to its usual cool purr. His apprentice rose, sensing his master’s permission to affix his weapon again to his own belt, and went to retrieve his helmet. As the forgiven student basked to be once again in his master’s good graces, Snoke’s eyes lifted to set upon the general now standing alone before him.

It was Hux’s turn.

“My apprentice’s fit of temper against the ship was wanton foolishness, but his frustration was not unjustified,” said Snoke. “Reports from your officers have determined that it was the very same renegade stormtrooper that breached his training to escape with our captive Resistance pilot that assisted the droid in its flight from Jakku.”

“FN-2187,” Ren repeated, the modulator on his mask preventing him from sounding _too_ eager to remind the general of what Ren had uncovered before he had.

Hux’s face cycled through several colors in succession, pale and bright red before settling on a mottled pink, highlighting the dark circles and red-rimmed eyelids evincing his stressed condition. “I have already personally overseen the investigation into this case. There is nothing to indicate an aberration in FN-2187’s condition or at any stage in his training. This behavior could not have been foreseen.”

Snoke paused for only a moment before Hux’s feet were forced out from under him, knocking him roughly onto his belly with an undignified grunt. His head whipped sharply toward the floor, knocking his hair into his eyes, and he tasted blood where his teeth had struck his tongue. 

The Supreme Leader blasted apart the general’s meticulous veneer to unmask the desperate cur beneath, just the opposite of his exercise in forcing control upon the chaos that was Kylo Ren: inflicting discomposure upon careful order.

It was only _fair_ , Hux supposed, that after he was allowed to see Ren’s nose rubbed in his failures Ren was now invited to witness this-- though Hux was being held responsible for a novice soldier while Ren’s mistakes were his own. If the entire chain of command could be held responsible for the failures of its lowest members, then _Snoke_ could be blamed for Ren’s antics and _he_ deserved-- he quickly stopped this progression of his thoughts in his tracks, remembering that both the Supreme Leader and his protégé could probe his mind easily if they willed.

“Was there nothing to indicate my intentions, General?”

“Your objective was clear to me, sir.” Blood flicked from his mouth as he spoke and he dabbed at it with a sleeve.

“Your instincts for anticipating behavior are quite impeccable, General,” mocked Snoke. “Apply them to this case and see that it does not happen again.”

Hux rose and took his place beside Ren again, swallowing the blood in his mouth. At least it had been brief, though he resented that Ren’s chastisement had ultimately turned into an opportunity to show off. Perhaps there was still a chance for Hux to impress; after all, he had not yet had his chance to announce the weapon’s completion.

“The droid will soon be delivered to the Resistance, leading them to the last Jedi,” Snoke considered, reminding them of the stakes. “If Skywalker returns, then the new Jedi will arise.”

Hux attempted to start with the same humble tack Ren had tried, “Supreme Leader, I take full responsibility—”

“General!” Snoke interrupted him with a snarl. Hux fell silent but could not resist glaring. “Our strategy must now change . . . “

**Author's Note:**

> . . . and that's where the scene itself picks up.


End file.
